San Francisco Giants 3, Colorado Rockies 2: It’s Gregor ‘Babe’ Blanco

Blanco went 3 for 4 Monday, with two hits that didn’t leave the infield and one hit that left the yard.

Blanco’s solo shot to right in the sixth — and it was no cheapy — got the Giants on the board, and his infield single to leadoff the eighth sparked a two-run rally.

“I was trying to hit a line drive through the middle and it worked out better,” Blanco said of his home run.

It led to happy ending that didn’t look evident when things started — nor the way it ended.

The Giants could not figure out Colorado rookie left-hander Christian Friedrich early on. The Giants, who have the fewest strikeouts in the NL, whiffed six times their first time through the lineup.

Blanco’s first infield single to lead off the fourth would be the team’s first hit. They would finish with 10.

In the ninth, after RBI singles by Buster Posey and Brett Pill in the eighth gave the Giants a 3-1 lead, the Rockies put two runners on with one out against Santiago Casilla.

Casilla looked to get out of the inning when Marco Scutaro hit a hard grounder third baseman Joaquin Arias, setting up a potential game-inning double play. Instead, Arias let it get by him for an error, allowing the Rockies to cut the margin to 3-1 and put runners on second and third with one out.

But Casilla struck out Dexter Fowler, and after an intentional walk to Carlos Gonzalez, Arias redeemed himself by making a nice play on a slow chopper by Chris Nelson to end the game.

OTHER NOTES

P Ryan Vogelsong regrouped from a rough start when he struggled with his control. He walked five, but finished seven innings by giving up one run on three hits.

C Buster Posey went 2 for 4 as he tried to break out of a recent slump.

An interesting late move. 2B Charlie Culberson was replaced in the ninth by 2B Emmanuel Burriss, we presume for defensive purposes.

UP NEXT

Tim Lincecum returns to the mound at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday to face Jeremy Guthrie, who will make his first since coming off the DL. Lincecum may face a Troy Tulowitzki-less lineup. Tulowitzki injured his ankle when he was hit by a foul ball by teammate while sitting in the dugout. Tulowitzki tried to continue but was eventually pulled for a pinch-runner. We’d be surprise to see him in the lineup Tuesday.

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